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“Gwyneth,” he interrupted me impatiently. “From here on, I know the way. It’s not far now. Come along.”
“Oh. I see.” I felt ashamed of myself. I really was being rather, well, girlie this morning. We hurried on in single file. It was a mystery to me how Gideon thought he knew his way around this labyrinth.
“Damn!” I’d trodden in a puddle. And right beside the puddle sat a dark brown rat, blinking its red eyes in the beam of my flashlight. I squealed out loud. Probably my squeal meant “You’re so cute!” in rat language, because the rat sat up on its hind legs and put its head on one side.
“You’re not a bit cute!” I squealed. “Go away!”
“Where are you?” Gideon had already disappeared around the next corner.
I swallowed, and plucked up all my courage to run past the rat. Rats weren’t like dogs, were they? A dog would have run after me to bite my calves. To be on the safe side, I kept the flashlight pointing back at the rat’s eyes, to dazzle it, until I had almost reached the corner where Gideon was waiting for me. Then I turned the beam forward and squealed again. The outline of a man had come into sight at the end of the passage.
“Oh, shit!” Quick as a flash, Gideon grabbed me and pulled me back into the shadows. But it was already too late. Even if I hadn’t squealed, the beam of my flashlight would have given me away.
“I think he saw me,” I whispered back.
“You bet he did!” said Gideon grimly. “He’s me! What an idiot I was! Go on, you go first. Be nice to me!” And with these words, he gave me a little nudge so that I staggered back into the passage.
“What on earth…?” I whispered, as I was caught in the beam of another flashlight.
“Gwyneth?” I heard Gideon’s incredulous voice. But this time, it came from ahead of me. It took me half a second to understand. Then I realized that we had crossed the path of Gideon’s earlier self, after he’d gone to hand that letter over to the Grand Master in 1912. I shone my flashlight on him. Oh, God, yes, that was Gideon all right! And he stopped a few yards from me, looking at me in total amazement. For two seconds, we went on dazzling each other with our flashlights, and then he said, “How did you get here?”
I couldn’t help smiling at him. “Well, it’s a bit complicated to explain,” I said, although I’d have liked to say, “Hey, you haven’t changed a bit!” Behind the projecting part of the wall where we’d taken cover, the other Gideon was gesticulating in the air.
“Go on, explain!” his younger self demanded, coming closer.
Once again, the other Gideon gesticulated frantically. I didn’t understand what signal he was trying to give me.
“Just a moment, please.” I gave his younger version a friendly smile. “There’s something I have to clear up here. I’ll be back soon.”
But obviously neither the older nor the younger Gideon felt like any explanations. While the younger one followed me, trying to grab my arm, the older one didn’t wait for him to see around the corner, but leaped forward and struck his alter ego on the forehead with the full weight of his flashlight. The younger Gideon fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“You hurt him!” I knelt down and looked at the bleeding wound, horrified.
“He’ll survive,” said the other Gideon, unmoved. “Come on, no time to waste! The letter’s already been handed over. He,” he said, giving himself a slight kick, “was already on his way back when he met you.”
I paid no attention to him, but stroked his unconscious younger self’s hair. “You hit yourself on the head! Do you remember how horrible you were to me about that?”
Gideon grinned faintly. “Yes, I do. And I’m really sorry. But who’d ever expect a thing like that? Come on! Before that idiot wakes up again. He delivered the letter ages ago.” Then he said something in French. I suspected that it consisted of hearty curses because, as with Raphael just now, the word merde featured several times.
“Now, now, now, young man,” said a voice quite close to us. “We may be close to the sewage system down here, but that’s no reason to use the language of the sewers so freely.”
Gideon had spun around, but he didn’t look as if he had plans to knock out the new arrival as well as his earlier self. Maybe because the voice had sounded kindly and amused. I raised my flashlight and shone it on a middle-aged stranger’s face, and then from there on down, in case he was pointing a pistol at us. He wasn’t.
“I’m Dr. Harrison.” He introduced himself with a little bow, while his eyes, intrigued, went back and forth from Gideon’s face to the Gideon lying on the ground. “And I’ve just retrieved your letter from our adept on duty during the Cerberus Watch.” He took an envelope with a large red seal on it out of his jacket. “Lady Tilney has assured me that it must not on any account fall into the hands of the Grand Master or any other members of the Inner Circle. Apart from me, that is.”
Gideon sighed and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. “We were on our way to prevent that very thing, but getting through all these passages took too long … and then, idiot that I am, I managed to cross my own path.” He took the letter and stuffed it into his pocket. “Thank you.”
“A de Villiers admitting to a mistake?” Dr. Harrison laughed quietly. “Well, that’s something new. But fortunately Lady Tilney has taken charge, and I have never yet known one of her plans to fail. Furthermore, arguing with her is entirely useless.” He pointed to the Gideon lying on the floor. “Does he need help?”
“It couldn’t hurt to disinfect that wound and put something soft under the back of his head,” I said, but Gideon interrupted me. “Nonsense, he’ll be fine!” Taking no notice of my protests, he pulled me to my feet. “We must get back now. Please give Lady Tilney our regards, Dr. Harrison. And tell her I’m very grateful.”
“A pleasure,” said Dr. Harrison. He was about to turn and walk away, but then something else occurred to me.
“Oh, Dr. Harrison,” I said, “could you please tell Lady Tilney not to be scared if I come to see her in the future when she’s elapsing?”
Dr. Harrison nodded. “Certainly.” He waved to us, said, “Good luck!” and then hurried away.
I was just calling, “Good-bye!” after him when Gideon tugged me in the other direction again. He left his unconscious alter ego lying all alone in the passage.
